


Bound

by seimaisin



Series: Learn To Crawl [2]
Category: Dragon Age
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon, Rare Pairing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-31
Updated: 2011-12-31
Packaged: 2017-10-28 13:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/308443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seimaisin/pseuds/seimaisin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Nathaniel stretched up to inspect the manacles holding her arms to the dungeon wall. As he leaned closer, Cauthrien was struck by the scent of sweat and blood. It was a cleaner scent than usually clung to him - human blood, rather than rancid darkspawn. She wondered what it said about both of them that the smell of human blood comforted her.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Bound

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Serindrana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serindrana/gifts).



> A short bit from a post-game universe, written for serindrana. :)

Of course the Wardens came to her rescue. Cauthrien bit back an ungrateful curse when she blinked her eyes open and saw blue and silver armor floating in front of her. And any brief moment of hoping the person kneeling in front of her was a stranger was crushed when a familiar calloused hand touched her cheek. “Are you all right?”

“Fine,” she muttered, leaning away from Nathaniel. “Just get me out of here.”

“We’re searching for the keys. No luck yet.”

“‘We’?” Cauthrien raised her eyebrows. The tiny muscle movement hurt, but she struggled to keep the pain from her face. “You appear to be staring at me, not searching.”

“Forgive me for worrying.” Nathaniel shrugged. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly friendly explanation for your cheek being green and black.”

The memory of the mercenary’s gauntlet crashing into her face made her wince, which just hurt all the more. She distracted herself by focusing on Nathaniel again. Which, she admitted silently, was probably distracting for all the wrong reasons. “What are you doing here?”

“Besides rescuing you?”

“You know what I mean. I thought you’d be long gone from Nevarra by now.”

“We meant to leave three days ago.” Nathaniel reached up again to stroke her injured cheek. “I had unfinished business here.”

Cauthrien snorted. The thud she felt in her chest was nerves, she told herself. She was still chained to a wall. Definitely nerves. “I suppose I should be grateful that you thought so.”

“Yes, you should.”

Nathaniel stretched up to inspect the manacles holding her arms to the dungeon wall. As he leaned closer, Cauthrien was struck by the scent of sweat and blood. It was a cleaner scent than usually clung to him - human blood, rather than rancid darkspawn. She wondered what it said about both of them that the smell of human blood comforted her. “How did you know?” she asked.

“I went to see you. The innkeeper said you hadn’t been back for two days. When I saw your sword, I knew something was wrong.”

“Bain is selling to slavers. I couldn’t just stand by.”

“Of course not,” Nathaniel murmured. “But did you have to confront him alone?”

“I didn’t. Rex and Stavren didn’t survive the meeting.”

“I’m sorry.”

“They were good men.” She sighed as she felt him slipping a finger between her wrists and the restraints, feeling for weak spots. “I am only alive because there are still Fereldans who might find it amusing to have a traitor to torture. I was told Bain had found someone willing to pay for me.”

Nathaniel was close enough that Cauthrien felt more than heard his low growl. “You are many things,” he said, his voice almost too soft for her to make out, “but a traitor is not one of them.”

Cauthrien wanted to say _tell that to the king of Ferelden_ , but it was an old argument, and one that hit too close to home for Nathaniel to ever let go. She let her head fall forward enough to rest her forehead on his armor. In response, she felt his fingers twine with hers. She couldn’t see his face, but somehow, she could imagine the cloud that passed over his eyes. A little voice in her head cursed - after such a short time, that she knew his expressions so intimately was frightening. Dangerous.

“Here,” he said, and Cauthrien could feel his voice rumble against her skin. He stood suddenly; the air around Cauthrien became markedly cooler. She suppressed a shiver. “If I can find something …” Nathaniel wandered away, looking around the room with a frown.

A moment later, he returned with a rusty nail. “Hold still,” he said, grabbing her wrists. She fought hard to comply when his pull made the manacles cut into her wrists. “Sorry,” he murmured. “Just a second more …”

True to his word, he’d barely stopped speaking when she felt the metal fall away; now, the only thing holding her wrists to the wall was his grip. He held her for a moment, rubbing his thumb over the red welts. When he let go, her arms fell into her lap. Tiny invisible knives pricked all over her skin, and she shook her arms to try to banish the sensation. “How long?” Nathaniel asked, crouching down next to her again.

“I’ve been down here for a couple of days, but they released me to piss… this morning? Maybe? What time is it?”

“Late.” He frowned. “You need food.”

“I need a sword to stick in Bain’s heart, is what I need.”

“Already done.” When Cauthrien glared at him, he shrugged. “He fought. We won. Alren and Jeyne are searching for others to free.”

“I thought you said they were searching for keys.”

“You were someone who needed freeing, weren’t you?”

“Point.” Cauthrien got to her knees, but when her vision swam, she decided staying on the ground was the better choice for the moment. “You never really answered my question.”

“Which one?”

“How did you know I was here?”

“We’d heard rumors of Bain’s slaver connection.” He held up a hand before Cauthrien could speak. “Only three days ago, just before we were to leave. Would you have listened to me if I came to you then?”

She wanted to say yes, but she knew herself too well. “You were an ass,” she mumbled.

“So were you.” _Point_ , she said silently, but refused to let it show on her face. Nathaniel continued, “I’d convinced myself to try, though. Which is why I went to the inn to look for you.” He grasped her arm and tugged. “Up. We can’t be sure more of Bain’s lackeys won’t come back.”

He allowed her enough dignity to walk under her own power. Still, Cauthrien stumbled several times on her way up the stairs and out of the house. She was grateful when he pretended not to notice. His fellow Wardens met them outside. “Only found a few people,” the woman - Jeyne - said. “They’ve already scattered. The place is empty now, as far as we can tell.”

There were more, Cauthrien knew. People she’d worked with, men and women who had been sent off on jobs outside of the city. Maybe some of them were as ignorant as she was, or maybe they were all in on the business of selling people. Or maybe some were as she had been, turning a blind eye to things that turned their stomachs in favor of some greater good that may not even exist, not in the way they thought.

Cauthrien shook her head to clear it. Those were not thoughts to dwell on, especially not here, not now, not with the son of the man responsible -

She looked at Nathaniel. In his eyes, Cauthrien saw too much. She hoped he couldn’t see as much in her own. “Thank you,” she said.

He bowed slightly. “Where will you go?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Tantervale. There are usually plenty of guilds in need of a good sword around there.” She shrugged. “Or maybe Starkhaven. I hear the Prince’s army pays well.”

Nathaniel hesitated. “You’re welcome to travel with us for a while.”

Cauthrien was shaking her head before he finished speaking. “The Anderfels are not for me.”

He opened his mouth as if to speak again, but after a moment, he simply nodded. “Safe travels, Cauthrien.”

“To you as well.”

Long after the three Wardens had disappeared into the night, she stood staring into the darkness.

 

The night sky had barely begun to gain a pink tinge when Cauthrien made it back to her room at the inn. She’d considered leaving town immediately, but with all of Bain’s nearby lackeys dead, she was unlikely to be attacked in her sleep for at least another day or so. And sleep … sleep had been hard to come by the last few days. Her bed was paid for, so she might as well use it one last time. Better to be awake and sharp on the road during daylight.

She’d barely gotten her boots off when she heard a soft knock at the door. She cursed under her breath. “I told the damned woman I didn’t need anything,” she muttered.

When she flung the door open, though, Nathaniel stood before her. She blinked. “What …”

“Alren and Jeyne are camped outside of town until morning. I was hoping you’d allow me the comfort of a mattress in return for the rescue.”

Cauthrien narrowed her eyes. “Were you, now?”

He held up a hand. “Sleep, Cauthrien, that’s all. You need it.”

“I’d be getting some right now had no one knocked at my door.”

Perhaps it would have been better - safer - to turn him away. But when Cauthrien lay down and settled into the circle of his arms, she figured she was allowed one more moment of weakness. So, under cover of darkness, she let her hand splay over his chest and counted his breaths as they slowed into sleep. As she drifted past wakefulness herself, she realized her own breathing had matched his rhythm. The synchronicity soothed her into sleep.

For one night, they both slept without nightmares.


End file.
